Ebony Evans: Adventure of a Lifetime Chap. 23
Annabeth 'I '''was sitting in the kitchen after my talk with Nico. I couldn't stop thinking about what great advice I had just given. Nico di Angelo had always been a case for me. Percy had met him first, and by how he acted when Nico disappeared I knew he was important. When I did meet Nico, he acted like a brat to Percy, never wanting any help from us. I didn't like him at all, but then I saw what he really was, a scared kid. When Percy disappeared and Nico showed up, I knew I needed to keep him busy at all times. I didn't want to see Nico get as upset as I did over Percy's leave. ''At least he has Ebony to think about now. That's what I had thought when he ran out of the meeting to get her two, maybe three, days ago. I wasn't sure anymore though. Nico's voice was harsh last night, and still was this morning. I had never heard the tone before come out of him. That's why I checked on Ebony afterwards. She was busy packing somethings up when I came in. "Ebony?" She turned quickly, her eyes looked a bit red. "Hi, Annabeth. How are you doing?" "I was about to ask you the same thing," Ebony stopped packing, "I'm leaving." "You're leaving?" She nodded and started putting something else in her backpack. "Is this because of what happened between you and Nico." "You heard him," Ebony didn't seem shocked. It was more of this-is-how-it-is sort of sounding. "He doesn't want me here, and I'm fine with leaving. Maybe we're suppose to be against each other and then I'm suppose to leave and then you guys are saved. Makes sense, right?" "You don't sound convinced." She turned to me, her eyes seemed like they were dimming, "He doesn't want me here. My stupid feeling was wrong." "What feeling?" "I thought we're suppose to... I thought we had a connection, you know? Someone or something wanted us to meet up and stick together, but I was wrong, like always. And I'm getting complete payback for it." "Ebony, I know how you feel. And don't give up on him." "Why not?" "He'll come around. Nico's probably just overloaded at this time, he's never had anyone tell him they were their best friend." Ebony smiled sheepishly, "I didn't mean to tell it. It just came out." I nodded. "Just don't give up on him, okay?" Ebony's face changed, like she was confused, "Yeah," she then went to her backpack. "Good night, Ebony." "See you tomorrow, Annabeth." I smiled and went to bed, my job for the night was done. **** Now I was on a high of happiness. Since I was felling so good, I went up to the top deck, on the other side of Leo. I didn't really feel like talking, worried I would lose this feeling if I spoke. I made my way to the side of the ship, looking down at the trees we were flying over. Every now and then I'd see a centaur running across the ground. It was peaceful. "Annabeth?" I sighed, ''There goes that moment, ''and turned around. Behind me was Leo. He hand his hands in his tool belt, and pulled out some wires. "Hey, Leo. How's it going?" "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I had a dream last night." "What was it about?" "Some stuff," he started making some sparks with his wires, "but it was the end that was weird. It was like some wind encircled me and said, 'A ghostly trader is aboard...' and then the wind left." "A trader?" "I know. I thought maybe it was what I ate last night, but now I'm not sure." "We'll figure it out." "The thing is, this morning I felt another wind encircle me, but it was different," he stretched his head. "Weirder, if that's possible." I was about to answer when I heard a loud scream. "What was that?" Leo asked, instantly putting up his wires. "I don't know, I've never heard that scream before," we looked at each other. I didn't have to even say anything, we were thinking the same thing. It was Ebony's scream. We took off down the stairs, Leo pulling out his hammer and me my dagger. As I ran ahead, Jason and Piper showed up. "Did you two hear the scream too?" Jason asked. We nodded. "Come on, I think it came from the training room." In a single filed line we headed down some more stairs to the very bottom of the ship, were the training room was. I lead, Leo close behind, Jason had already flipped his coin and was in position to throw it if needed, and Piper was in the back, her dagger unsheathed. I opened up the door, and what I saw almost made me have a heart attack. Nico was swinging his sword at Ebony. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Category:Ebony Evans: Adventure of a Lifetime Category:Chapter Page